International Equal Pay Day

Achieving equal pay is an important milestone for human rights & gender equality. Yet, despite global progress, there isn't a single country or a sector that has closed the gender pay gap. On average, women are paid about 20% less than men. In some regions, as well as for women of colour, immigrant women & women with children, the difference is even greater. On Wednesday's Equal Pay Day, join UN Women in demanding equal pay for work of equal value.

  There are several policies that have been shown to have a positive effect in reducing the gender wage gap, especially when effectively combined. Firstly, establishing and enforcing equal pay and anti-discrimination legislation has been recognised as essential in order to establish a legal framework for ensuring equal pay for work of equal value, as well as to provide legal recourse to victims of pay discrimination. International labour standards in the area of equal pay and non-discrimination, namely ILO Convention 100 on equal remuneration forwork of equal value and ILO Convention 111 onDiscrimination (Employment and Occupation) provide important frameworks for governments in this respect. Still, the ILO Committee of Experts has acknowledged that while many countries have ratified ILO C100, a smaller number of countries have actually passed implementing laws or applied the principle of ‘equal pay for work of equal value’ in law and in practice.  Some governments have al...

 Equal pay for work of equal value is an internationally recognised fundamental right, rooted in the ILO Convention 100(1951) on Equal Remuneration , which focuses on gender discrimination in employment and sets out that signatories must promote and ensure equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value.  The key role of equal pay in fostering gender equality, dignity, fairness, respect and recognition for the work of women , has been prioritised by the UN 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development. SDG 8 on inclusive growth, full employment and decentwork enshrines equal pay among its targets, underscoring that an equitable and inclusive world of work is a precondition to genderequality and societal progress overall ( SDG 5 ) Measuring progress in closing gender pay gaps is essential to address pay discrimination wherever it happens and to foster the implementation of the SDGs. Unfortunately, the lack of comparable disaggregated data by gender, race, di...

Equal pay means that all workers have the right to receive equal remuneration for work of equal value. While the concept is straightforward, what equal pay actually entails and how it’s applied in practice has proven to be difficult. “ Work of equal value ” can mean a job that is the same or similar, as well as a job that is not the same but is of equal value. This distinction is important because women’s and men’s work may involve different types of qualifications, skills, responsibilities, or working conditions, yet be of equal value , and, therefore, merit equal pay. Chidi King , Director of the Equality Department of the International Trade Union Confederation, and a member of UN Women and ILO’s Equal Pay Champions initiative , gives the example that a job in the male-dominated construction sector may be of the same or similar objective value as a job in the female-dominated childcare sector. However, the childcare job is likely to have lower pay. This past July, New Zealand pass...

Workers around the world look forward to payday. A paycheck may bring a sense of relief, satisfaction, or joy, but it can also represent an injustice— an expression of persistent inequalities between men and women in the workplace . Globally, the gender pay gap stands at 16% , meaning women workers earn an average of 84% of what men earn . For women of colour, immigrant women, and women with children, the difference is even greater. These discrepancies in pay add up and have real, daily negative consequences for women and their families. The adverse impacts are exacerbated even more by crises. It is estimated that the widespread effects of COVID-19 could push 96 million people into extreme poverty by 2021, bringing the total number of women and girls living on USD 1.90 per day to 435 million On the first International Equal Pay Day, 18 September, take a closer look at the gender pay gap and what can be done to close it.